Mummies



Ancient Egyptians used to bury dead bodies in small pits. Later, they began to bury their dead bodies in coffins (or sarcophagus) to protect them from wild animals, which they soon realized wasn’t such a good idea because the dead bodies began decay. Over centuries, Egyptians developed another way of preserving bodies, mummification. The process includes two main steps, embalming the body and wrapping the body. In ancient Egypt, people were mummified when they died, along with their pets, whether their pets were ready to join the afterlife or not. When people were mummified, they were buried with all their treasures and most valued possessions. Even food was mummified to use as food in the afterlife! You see, the Egyptians believed that their souls would live on after they died and that they would need the tools and treasures that they were buried with. A lot of ceremonial things that were done to the mummies revolved around religious beliefs and what they thought would happen after the person had died (more on the beliefs and the afterlife in the Book of the Dead ).

When a person died, the embalmers took their body away as soon as possible before it started to stink. First, it was sent to the "tent of purification," called an ibu. The embalmers washed the body with palm wine and rinsed it with the water from Nile. One of the embalmers cut the left side of the body and removed the internal organs of the person. They removed many organs. The liver, lungs, stomach and intestines were washed with palm wine and soaked in natron for forty days. They were sure to not take out the heart of the person. It was needed later for weighing when the spirit of the person goes to the afterlife. (See more on “The weighing” in the Book of the Dead) A long hook was used to pull the brain out through the nose. Then the body got stuffed with natron. After forty days, the body was washed with the water from the Nile again. Then they put oils to help the body stay flexible. The dehydrated internal organs were wrapped in linen and returned to the body. The body got stuffed with dry materials, like sawdust, leaves, and linen so that it looks like it is alive. The body was covered with scented oils again. Internal organs were removed from the body and they were placed in canopic jars. Each canopic jar was protected by one of the sons of Horus. The liver was stored in the jar that showed the human headed god, Imsety. Lungs were stored in the baboon headed god, Hapy. The stomach was stored in the jackal headed god, Duamutef, and the intestines were stored in the falcon headed god, Qebehsenuef. Finally, the embalmer's job is almost done The quality of how one was embalmed and wrapped depended on how much people paid. If they were poor, their body would be taken care of with oils, but not wrapped. If they paid the average amount, the body would be wrapped after being embalmed. If they were rich, their body would be taken care of and wrapped just the same if they had paid the average amount, except this time, they would have a mask placed on their face (masks are sometimes even made of solid gold!) The body is packed with wads of linen, papyrus, sand, or even sawdust. Hundreds of yards linen was used to wrap a mummy. Mummies were also wrapped in shrouds, large sheets of material that were thrown over the body like a cape. The first layer is usually a shroud. Then each toe and finger was wrapped separately. Next a long strip of linen beginning at the right shoulder was crisscrossed over the head. To hold the head straight up, a strap was then passed under the chin and knotted on top of the head. During the wrapping, the linen was constantly brushed with sticky, liquid resin. Fifteen days were set aside for the wrapping, and the whole process was accompanied by much prayer and ritual.

So, that is the fascinating process of mummification. It’s quite interesting, isn’t it? And many mummies will sleep for years to come—if they’re not disturbed, at least. Now, you know, that mummification is so much more complicated than it seems. Information from:  Pictures from:
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 *  //You Wouldn't Want to be an Egyptian Mummy!// (By: David Stewart, illustrated by David Antram, Printed in 2002)
 * Interact Company
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By: Adelle Ingrid F. Dimitui, Mi Jin Kim, Prashant Rawat